


Fine Line

by empireoffclouds



Series: Fine Line [1]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, M/M, at the beginning and that's it, can you believe this was supposed to be 1k words at the most, guys this is pure fluff, if you're looking for angst you came to the wrong place, not beta read we die like (wo)men, oh and also Lewis is the voice of Max's conscience
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:40:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25633708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empireoffclouds/pseuds/empireoffclouds
Summary: It was common knowledge across the world of Formula 1 that Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen did not like each other. Actually, many people would argue that that dislike was actually a fierce hatred, both on the track and off it. But you know what they say: there's a fine line between love and hate.Or: the enemies to friends to lovers fic no one really asked for.
Relationships: Charles Leclerc/Max Verstappen, Lando Norris/George Russell
Series: Fine Line [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1860433
Comments: 21
Kudos: 175





	Fine Line

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever Formula 1 story and I am unreasonably nervous to post it, specially because I'm relatively new to the fandom. But I just fell in love with this pairing and I had to write about them, and well enemies to friends to lovers really is a trope I could never get enough of. Anyways, I really hope you all enjoy it!

It was no secret to anyone that Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc weren’t the greatest of friends. Sure, their relationship might not be as terrible as it had been a few years ago, when they were even younger and more reckless and stubborn, but they certainly weren’t close.

Which was why when Charles hastily got into the same elevator Max was in at some shopping center in Monaco, the Dutch did little more than offer him a tight-lipped smile.

“Hello Verstappen” Charles greeted curtly, looking every bit as uncomfortable as Max felt.

“Leclerc” he acknowledged, quickly averting his eyes and hoping to God that the elevator would get to his floor quickly enough to save him from having to make awkward small talk with Charles.

The seconds seemed to drag on as slowly as snails, and just when Max was about to breathe a sigh of relief when they were finally reaching his destination, the elevator gave a sudden lurch downwards, both men having to hold on to the walls in order not to lose their balance.

The elevator lights flickered for a few seconds before everything came to a standstill, both the background music and the mechanical noise coming to an abrupt stop.

“Did we just get fucking stranded?” Max exclaimed in disbelief, his eyes darting towards Charles in search for an answer. When the other man stayed silent, Max rolled his eyes. Again, he knew they weren’t exactly friends, but he thought they were past the whole “ignoring each other” thing.

However, the longer Max stared at him, it became increasingly clear that the Monegasque wasn’t actually ignoring him. Charles’ skin was paler than it normally was, and his usually bright green eyes were dull and unfocused. Also, he was seemingly trying to grip the metal walls with his fingernails, shrinking himself against the corner of the small space.

“… Leclerc? Are you okay?”

The question seemed to finally get a reaction out of Charles, and he audibly gulped before turning to look at Max.

“I – um – I just… I have really bad claustrophobia”

Max couldn’t help the incredulous look that took over his face “You’re a Formula 1 driver”

Charles glared at him, and while Max felt a little bad he was also kinda glad to have momentarily distracted him from his panic.

“That’s different. I know I’m in control of my car, but I’m not in control of this fucking elevator”

Yeah, that actually did make sense.

It was in that moment that the little speaker box on top of the buttons started making some noise, and Max quickly went towards it.

“Hello?” a static-y voice called “Is everyone okay?”

“Yes! There are two people in here”

“Okay, there seems to have been some electric malfunction on the elevator and we have people working on it right now, but we’ve been informed that it could take up to an hour before we can get you out of there. We are terribly sorry for the inconvenience”

Charles seemed to pale even more at that, if it was even possible. His chest started heaving up and down erratically, and Max could instantly tell he was having a panic attack.

“Ah, alright. Please do try to hurry up”

The operator promised to keep them updated before everything went silent once more. Meanwhile, Max was having an internal debate with himself. On the one hand, he knew that Charles didn’t trust him and he didn’t want to cause more discomfort for the poor man. But on the other, he knew what it was like to deal with anxiety, and he really thought he could help. Finally, his conscience (which sounded eerily like Lewis’s voice) won out and he decided to at least try.

“Alright Leclerc, I know you don’t like me but you’re gonna have to do as I say. I need you to sit down for me”

Predictably, Charles only looked at him warily and Max rolled his eyes.

“Listen, I know what it’s like to have a panic attack so just sit the fuck down okay?”

When Charles still made no move to follow his orders, Max let out a sigh and sat down himself. After he was as comfortable as he could be, he turned to look at Charles with a raised eyebrow. The other man didn’t look particularly convinced, but after thinking about it for a few more seconds he gave in and shakily made his way to the ground.

Max nodded his head, feeling strangely pleased with himself “Good, now try to sync your breaths to mine. Inhale for ten seconds, and exhale for ten seconds”

Charles started doing as he was told, keeping his eyes firmly planted on Max’s chest to focus on the expanding and contracting of his muscles instead of on the panic that was still bubbling under his skin. They stayed like that for what felt like hours but couldn’t have been more than ten minutes, until Charles finally felt like he had stopped sweating and his chest stopped feeling as heavy.

“Better?” asked Max, noticing that the man’s complexion had improved significantly.

“Y-yeah” Charles answered “but could we… could we talk about something? I need a distraction”

The Dutchman nodded understandingly “Okay, let’s talk”

And talk they did. At first the conversation was pretty awkward, with Max just asking about what Charles had seen while browsing the mall and what he thought about the recent weather. However, as the minutes ticked by the two men were surprised to find that it was actually pretty easy to talk to each other.

They started discussing the upcoming season, what they thought about the new regulations, about the new drivers, about the calendar, and about their chances of becoming world champions.

“Obviously I feel really blessed for the opportunity to drive for Ferrari, but the pressure is just insane sometimes. I know I’m in my twenties and at the prime of my youth or whatever, but sometimes I feel older than Seb”

Max laughed at that “Yeah I totally get what you mean, it really doesn’t help to have Alex as a teammate. I love the guy but he’s so fucking young, makes me feel like I’m forty”

Charles snorted, looking amused for a bit before his smile turned a little sad.

“I just wish my father was still here, he always knew what to say”

“I’m sorry you lost him, but I’m sure he’s proud of you wherever he is” Max consoled, surprising even himself with the sincerity behind those words.

Charles looked at him gratefully, and Max fidgeted uncomfortably for having the full power of the Monegasque’s bambi eyes directed straight towards him.

“Thank you Max”

The Dutch could feel a crimson blush starting to spread across his neck, and not for the first time he cursed his pale white skin that could never hide when the man was feeling embarrassed. It was the first time he had called him by his name. He just hoped Charles attributed his blush to the rising heat inside the elevator.

“And what about your family? They must be really proud of how you’ve been doing in Red Bull” Charles broke the silence that had fallen over them, and Max instantly tensed as he always did at the mention of his family.

The flinch didn’t go unnoticed by Charles, and he couldn’t understand where the sudden need to know more about Max Verstappen was coming from.

Max hesitated before answering the question, even though he knew his silence had already gone on for too long. Normally he gave the same bullshit response whenever someone asked him about what his family thought of him, but for some strange reason he found that he really didn’t want to lie to Charles.

“My family is… complicated” he started, feeling more reassured to continue when he turned to look at Charles and saw that he had his undivided attention “my mom and my sister are angels, and my little siblings are perfect”

Charles smiled at that, not really able to imagine the tough and sometimes cold Max Verstappen interacting with little children.

“But my father is, well, you know him”

Yes, Charles did know Jos Verstappen. Everyone knew the intimidating Dutchman, who even when his son was just starting in kart racing treated every race as though it was a matter of life or death. Jos was never above publicly berating young Max whenever he did the tiniest mistake, which was why he had never been a favorite of Charles’s parents.

So yeah, Charles had some idea that Jos would never win a “best dad” award. But apparently it was even worse than he had suspected.

“You don’t have to prove anything to him, you know that right?” Charles said softly, suddenly feeling irrationally angry at Max’s father.

Max looked unconvinced, a deep frown etching his usually smooth forehead “He gave me everything I ever needed, the least I could do is try to pay him back by being what he wants me to be”

Charles scoffed “Fuck that Max. Parents are supposed to give their children everything, it comes in the contract, and that definitely doesn’t mean you have to “pay them back”. That’s bullshit. Besides, if he isn’t already proud of you then he’s an idiot. You’re one of the greatest drivers out there!”

Max found himself at a loss of words. He felt genuinely touched by Charles’s words. He wasn’t one to share his insecurities with everyone; preferring to always be seen as calm and composed, so it was a rare occurrence when someone offered words of encouragement to him.

Because of that, he didn’t really know what to answer. Who would have thought that his “greatest enemy” would be the one telling him to stop doubting himself?

“You really think that?”

Charles nodded sharply “Of course I do _stupide_ , you wouldn’t be considered my biggest rival if you weren’t”

“Ah, there’s that arrogance I’ve become so used to” Max snorted, but the small smile he had playing on his lips let Charles know that he was only teasing.

Charles rolled his eyes, but couldn’t keep his own lips from twitching upwards.

“Yeah well, someone has to try to keep you from getting too cocky”

The two young men just sat there for a while, smiling at each other. If anyone was to find them like that, they’d probably think they were both crazy.

When the elevator speaker finally came to life again and announced that they had managed to fix the problem, both Charles and Max were even a little disappointed. True to the worker’s word the elevator started moving again just a few seconds after the message, and the drivers reluctantly pulled themselves up to their feet.

As soon as the doors opened Charles made a beeline for the exit, tilting his head towards the sky and taking a deep breath. Max smiled at the sight, not being able to stop himself from thinking that the Ferrari driver looked adorable doing that.

The workers and firemen who were waiting for them outside looked on the verge of having heart attacks when they realized who the people that had been trapped inside the elevator were, and Max shared an amused look with Charles as they all started fussing over them.

They quickly waved off their concerns and assured them that it hadn’t been a big deal, and Charles had to cough to cover a laugh when he saw how relieved everyone looked.

After that they managed to get rid of the workers easily, and they started making their way to the exit of the mall together, neither particularly wanting to spend more time there after what they’d been through.

They reached Charles’s car first (a Ferrari, of course) and Max felt awkward again, not knowing what to say. Charles was having a similar internal struggle, and he uncomfortably cleared his throat.

“Thanks again Max, for helping me out back there. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you”

That was enough to make Max feel alright again, and he offered Charles a genuine smile.

“No problem Charles, I know you would’ve done the same thing for me”

He grinned “Yeah, I would”

Max could feel his cheeks heating up once more, and before he could say anything else Charles quickly surged forward, throwing his arms around him in a tight hug. The Dutch was too shocked to even move, and almost as soon as the hug had started it was over.

Charles had the audacity to look amused at Max’s shock, and he just got into his car like nothing had happened.

“I’ll see you around” he called after rolling his windows down, and Max could do little more than nod and wave goodbye as Charles backed the car out of the parking space and drove away.

Max just stood there for a solid five minutes, his muddled brain unable to comprehend what just happened. The more he thought about his day the more confused he became. Were he and Charles friends now? I mean, he had hugged him hadn’t he? Don’t friends hug each other?

He huffed, shaking his head as if to rid himself of those thoughts and finally went to find his own car. No matter where they stood now, Max only knew one thing for certain. Charles Leclerc was a little shit.

* * *

Max couldn’t really explain how it had started. Charles and he had finally followed each other on Instagram after the “elevator debacle” – which was what Max had taken to calling it whenever he thought about that day – and then one day he had woken up to see a notification on his phone telling him that he had a new private message from one Charles Leclerc.

He had been pretty confused as to what Charles could want to tell him privately, but when he opened the message he had been even more confused to find that the man had actually sent him a meme. Okay, it was a pretty hilarious meme, but it was still very weird.

Max debated answering with “???” to convey his confusion, but that seemed like a bit of a dick move and since they were sort of friends now he really didn’t want to offend Charles. So after thinking about it for way longer than he should have, Max settled for sending a “lol”.

And apparently that was all the encouragement Charles needed.

It seemed like Charles had taken to sending him every single meme he came across, but if Max was being honest with himself (which was something that didn’t happen often) he didn’t mind it at all. In fact, after the first few days he had started to send memes as well, and the first time he sent one and got the biggest “looooooooooooooool” as a response he felt almost embarrassingly pleased with himself.

Many of the memes were about Formula 1 of course, but the more jokes they sent the more they could get a feel of the other’s sense of humor, and the images quickly began to be about other things that weren’t racing.

Sometimes Charles even sent Max pictures of baby lions with the caption “look it’s u”, and Max would only laugh and send back a picture of a baby deer and say “yeah? well this is u”.

He genuinely hadn’t realized just how often he and Charles texted, or at least he didn’t until he was hanging out with Lando at his apartment one summer day. They had been playing Call of Duty for almost an hour, but Max kept getting himself killed because he couldn’t stop looking at his phone and laughing at whatever stupid post Charles had sent him.

The fifteenth time it happened Lando finally had enough, putting his controller down with a huff and turning to look at Max with an exasperated look on his face.

“Okay Max it’s adorable to see you in love it really is, but if you don’t stop texting your secret boyfriend and making us lose I’m going to lose my shit”

Max nearly dropped his phone, turning to look at his friend like a deer caught in headlights.

“W-What?” was the very articulate response he came up with.

Lando rolled his eyes “Come on man, we’ve been together for like a week now and you’ve spent nearly all of it glued to your phone.

Max truly was at a loss of words. He didn’t spend that much time texting Charles did he? And also _boyfriend_? How the hell had Lando come to _that_ conclusion?

“He’s not my boyfriend” Max argued, a deep scowl setting on his forehead when Lando just looked at him with a suggestive smirk.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say lover boy” Lando teased, reveling on the fact that his perpetually chill friend’s face was going all shades of red “I just hope you let me meet him before the wedding”

Max chucked the controller at him.

“Ow! I’m just saying mate, besides you should be more grateful that you have someone” Lando actually pouted at that “My love life is sadder than all those dramas Alex forces us to watch”

Now it was Max’s turn to roll his eyes “Oh shut up, if you just got your head out of your ass and told George how you feel you could get married and have lots of British babies”

Max really thought it was adorable how much Lando blushed whenever George was brought up.

“You don’t understand Max, I’m sure he just sees me as a friend” he sighed, and if Max wasn’t also a friend of George he would break his promise and tell him right then and there that the other man most certainly did not see him as a friend. But alas, he’d just have to let the two oblivious idiots figure it out by themselves.

“Whatever you say, but when you finally get married I better be the best man _and_ the godfather of your first child”

Lando chucked the controller back at him.

* * *

What had started as innocent meme-sharing quickly turned into full-blown texting, and to be perfectly honest Max was glad that Lando had left to England a few days before because he was sure his teasing would have increased tenfold.

Max didn’t really think much of it though, he had accepted the fact that he and Charles were friends now, and it wasn’t uncommon for friends to be texting each other all the time.

(He ignored that voice in his head that told him he never texted that much with Daniel or Lando).

And the thing was, they never talked about anything too important. 

Charles would send him a picture of his breakfast (because he had taken it upon himself to learn how to cook during the summer break) or Max would text him about this new restaurant that opened up close to his house or Charles would tell him all about whichever shitty film he had watched on Netflix.

Right now they were in the middle of a particularly heated discussion about Charles’s aforementioned shitty taste in movies, with neither of them being able to finish writing their texts before a new one popped up.

“This is ridiculous” Max muttered to himself, before quickly pressing on the little camera icon that would allow him to video chat with Charles.

After it rang for a few seconds it finally dawned on him what he’d done, but before he could end the call and pass it off as a mistake Charles accepted it.

As Charles’s face appeared on his screen Max couldn’t help but feel a blush creeping up his neck. The Monegasque had the most ridiculous bed head he had ever seen, but what really drew his interest was the fact that the man was not wearing a shirt.

Charles was evidently sprawled on top of his bed, and the position he was in allowed Max to see a little of his bare back and the way his feet were propped up in the air. 

“It’s noon Charles” was the first thing Max could think to say, and Charles instantly rolled his eyes.

“Yes and it is the summer break Maxy, my trainer doesn’t need to know”

The Dutch scowled “Maxy?”

Charles shrugged, a cheeky smile playing on his lips “I think it suits you” 

Now it was Max’s turn to roll his eyes “Oh fuck off. Let’s get back to the real issue here, which is your total lack of taste”

That was enough to launch Charles into a full blown monologue on why The Kissing Booth and To All the Boys I Loved Before were objectively good movies - and well, if they kept talking for three hours straight no one really needed to know.

Their FaceTime sessions became an almost daily occurrence, which didn’t really affect their routines because they just swapped texting for talking.

Max even started to cook for himself with Charles’s help, with the younger man giving him instructions over the phone. 

“No - Jesus Christ, Max, you’re going to cut off your finger if you keep holding the knife like that” Charles chastised, looking intently at Max’s hands from where the Dutch had positioned the phone on the kitchen counter.

“Oh okay Gordon Ramsay, you learn how to scramble an egg and suddenly you’re the authority on cooking techniques”

“Har har, I’m serious _stupide_ ” Charles continued “you’re supposed to grip the handle more firmly. Really, if you do slash your finger I will not be the one to explain to Christian why his star driver suddenly can’t race”

Max let out an exasperated sigh “Well if my cutting technique is so bad why don’t you come over here and do it yourself?”

As soon as the words had left his mouth Max wished he could take them back. Because sure, they did speak every single day, but they had never actually hanged out. The last time they’d seen each other had been when they were both trapped on that damn elevator almost a month and a half ago.

However, his inner conflict was cut short almost as soon as it had started.

“Alright,” Charles shrugged “text me your address and I’ll be there in twenty”

So Max did. 

Deep down he knew it was unreasonable to be nervous about Charles coming over. This was Charles Leclerc, the boy whom he had known since they were both children, his _friend_.

He never got nervous about Lando or Daniel or Alex visiting, so he shouldn’t be nervous now.

Apparently he had been trying to convince himself that being nervous was stupid for far too long, because his doorbell rang after what had felt like just one minute.

And when Max opened the door to his apartment, the anxiousness melted away.

Charles didn’t even give him a chance to say hello before he was barging into his home, quickly spotting the kitchen and placing down two big brown bags on one of his counters.

“Alright so I stopped by the farmer’s market on my way here and got us some ingredients to make fresh pesto pasta, some white wine, and a couple of cherry danishes that just looked too good to pass up on - I won’t tell your trainer if you don’t tell mine”

Max felt as though he had invited a tornado into his house... but he didn’t really mind it.

“Hello to you too Charles” he said, quirking an amused eyebrow as the Monegasque moved around his kitchen as though he had been there a thousand times before.

That got Charles to finally stop for a second, and he flashed him a bright toothy grin.

“Ah yes hello Maxy, beautiful house you have here”

Max chuckled, closing the door and going back into the kitchen. 

It turned out Charles was pretty bossy when it came to cooking, but surprisingly enough Max was actually good at following instructions after he quickly showed him how to do it, and before they knew it their dinner was ready.

Since the weather was so nice the two men decided to have dinner on the balcony, the breeze and the view being compelling enough for them both.

Max was honestly surprised by how natural hanging out with Charles felt. He had been sure that they hated each other no more than a month ago, and now here they were, hanging out at his home during summer break, cooking together and having dinner.

And really, Max was pretty grateful that he had Charles in his life now. Since Daniel was halfway across the world in Australia, Lando was spending almost all of his time in England or Spain with Carlos, and Victoria was working hard on her clothing line in the Netherlands, he had been feeling quite lonely.

He never expected that Charles Leclerc would be the cure for that loneliness, but his mother did say that some of the best things in life were completely unexpected.

One thing he really liked about Charles was how the younger man simply did not shut up. Everyone knew Max was more of a listener than a talker, and with Charles’s ability to talk about everything and anything he never had to worry about filling uncomfortable silences.

He quickly snapped a picture of their dinner, uploading it to his Instagram story with no caption and without tagging Charles.

It’s not that he didn’t want anyone to know about their newfound friendship... but as he listened to Charles argue about how tagliatelle was a better pasta shape than fettuccine, he decided to keep it just between the two of them for a little while longer.

And so, when the inevitable notification from Lando came (“ _a romantic dinner at your house and you haven’t even told me his name??? I’m hurt Max, I really am_ ”) he just turned off his phone and kept on listening to the Monegasque.

* * *

Max wasn’t one to go out clubbing by himself, but the stress had really been getting to him lately and with Daniel and Lando in England and his sister in Amsterdam, he really had no other choice.

And well that just made him sound like the biggest loser ever.

Anyways, that was how he had found himself at one of Monaco’s fanciest night clubs all by his lonesome, leaning against the bar and nursing his second beer while he scanned the dance-floor for a guy or girl who looked interesting enough for him to follow.

However, his eyes were quickly drawn to a familiar figure that seemed to be having the time of his life, jumping up and down to the beat of the music as the crowd seemed to dance just around him.

Charles Leclerc. Of course.

It wasn’t uncommon for them to run into each other at social events, Monaco was like a fancy small town after all and there were only so many places one could go to party.

Whenever that had happened in the past they had simply ignored each other’s existence, but Max didn’t know what the new protocol was now that they were friends.

But as it had been happening lately, Charles made the decision for him.

“Max!” he called loudly as soon as he caught side of the Dutchman, pushing his way through the crowd of people to reach him at the bar, leaving some disappointed girls and boys behind.

Max could instantly tell that Charles was more than a little tipsy, his slightly unfocused eyes and the lopsided smile that adorned his face being more than telling.

“Hey Charles” Max smirked, amused at seeing the normally composed Ferrari driver in such a carefree state.

“It’s so good you’re here! Are you here with someone?” Charles asked, looking around as though he expected someone to pop out from behind him.

Max did laugh at that, quite enjoying this wild side of Charles “Nah I’m here by myself”

The Monegasque grinned “Great, now we can be alone together! Let me buy you a drink”

It turned out that Charles’s idea of a “drink” was a round of five shots for each of them, and Max didn’t let himself ponder if it was a good idea to get shit faced together because he just knew that his conscience (Lewis) would probably tell him it wasn’t.

So the two men downed their five shots of tequila as quickly as they could, their competitive nature making them turn it into a sort of contest.

Max slammed his last shot glass just a fraction of a second before Charles did, raising his arms in victory.

Charles only laughed, not looking the least bit bothered by being defeated, and only proceeded to buy them both more drinks (not shots though - they may be young and stupid but they certainly didn’t have a death wish).

It hadn’t even been a half hour later before Max was already feeling the dizzying effects of the alcohol, and he blamed it all on the fact that he wasn’t allowed to drink that much alcohol and was therefore a total lightweight.

So that was how Charles and Max found themselves jumping around like crazy people in the middle of the dance floor, not even worrying about following the beat of the music or whether other people were watching them.

Suddenly a very familiar song came on, and Charles looked more delighted than Max had ever seen him.

“Oh my god I love this song!”

“Why am I not surprised?” Max teased, earning himself a playful shove from the Monegasque.

“Oh come on Maxy, even you must like Harry Styles”

Max didn’t even have the time to dwell on the nickname before Charles was grabbing both his hands and pulling him close, so close that he could feel the other man’s hot breath as he sang.

“ _Tastes like strawberries on a summer evening, and it sounds just like a song_ ”

Charles placed his hands on Max’s hips, and the Dutch was suddenly very aware of how hot it was inside the club.

“ _I want more berries, and that summer feeling, tastes so wonderful and warm_ ”

Max could surprisingly hear Charles singing over the loud music, and he couldn’t help but think that the words sounded so much lovelier with his accent.

“ _Breathe me in, breathe me out, I don’t know if I could ever go without_ ”

The Monegasque’s fingers hooked on the loops of Max’s jeans, using them to pull him even closer.

“ _Watermelon sugar high_ ”

If his brain hadn’t been fuzzy from all that tequila, Max was sure that he would be freaking the fuck out right about now. But as it was, he allowed himself to get lost in those bright green eyes as he swayed to the beat of the music.

He wasn’t sure when their bodies got close enough to be pressed together, but Max had to suppress a shiver when the front of his thigh rubbed against Charles’s groin.

Charles wasn’t singing anymore, instead choosing to give his undivided attention to the man standing in front of him. Max noticed that his pupils had blown wide, to the point where his bright eyes looked almost black under the strobe lights.

It took him a second to place the emotion that had taken over Charles’s face, but once he did he felt as though his throat had gone dry.

 _Desire_.

Max felt as though his poor drunk brain was racing faster than he ever had, trying to think about when exactly they had crossed a line he wasn’t even aware existed.

He wasn’t blind, he had noticed that Charles was a very attractive man... but he had never even thought about the possibility of letting that attraction grow.

“Stop thinking” Charles murmured close to his ear, and this time Max couldn’t avoid the shiver that ran through his entire body.

For once in his life he did as he was told, and before he could chicken out he took a hold of Charles’s hand and quickly dragged him to a more secluded part of the club, where they would be safe from privy eyes.

He pressed the Monegasque against a wall, but still didn’t dare to move any closer.

“Are you sure about this? This isn’t just your drunk brain talking?” Max whispered, because he honestly wasn’t feeling that drunk anymore and he needed to make sure that Charles wasn’t doing something he’d regret.

Charles rolled his eyes “Just fucking kiss me Verstappen”

And well, Max couldn’t argue against that.

He surged forward, capturing Charles’s lips with his own in a kiss that was anything but tentative.

Charles wasn’t surprised that Max kissed just as he raced: recklessly, passionately, and not holding back in the slightest.

On the other hand Max was surprised by just how submissive Charles really was, allowing him to capture his chin between his fingers so he could have more control of the kiss.

Max could taste the tequila and lime on Charles’s tongue, and as he sucked on it the other man moaned into his mouth.

They would both be lying if they said they’d never thought about kissing each other, and now that that thought had turned into reality they couldn’t get enough of each other.

Charles tangled his hands on Max’s blonde hair, while the Dutch caressed the back of his neck in a way that made every last hair on his body stand up.

“Let’s get out of here” Charles gasped, their foreheads pressed together.

“Yeah”

With that, Max took a hold of his hand and led them out of the overcrowded club.

If there was one thing he loved about Monaco, it was how everyone minded their own business.

The cool air felt incredibly good after the sweltering heat of the crowd, and it felt even better when Charles pulled him close and kissed him again.

Max knew to some degree that they were being incredibly careless. Even though most people didn’t give two shits about them, there could still be someone who recognized him and saw their chance to make easy money by selling their picture to the tabloids.

But the feeling of Charles’s lips against his own was too good to allow him to think straight, and honestly he was tired of having to behave how other people expected him to.

The trip back to his apartment took them about twice as long as it should have, since Max kept pressing Charles against any semi-flat surface to kiss him senseless for at least a couple of minutes at a time.

They really felt like two teenagers again, running through the streets of Monaco under the cover of the night, more drunk on their emotions than on actual alcohol.

It was a little past 2 AM when they finally made it back to Max’s apartment, but neither of them was the least bit tired.

They left a trail of clothes from the door to the bedroom, and when Max was finally positioned on top of Charles, the Monegasque staring up at him with darkened eyes, he almost felt like all of the air had left his body.

“Are you sure you want this?” Max breathed out, because something was telling him that this wasn’t just a one night stand, and he wanted to make sure that they did things properly.

“I’ve never been surer of anything in my life Maxy” Charles promised, and to prove his point he placed a hand behind the nape of his neck and brought him closer to clash their mouths together once more.

* * *

When the morning rays of sunshine that filtered in through the drapes managed to stir Max from his slumber, he waited for the familiar feeling of regret he always had after spending the night with someone. But surprisingly, it didn’t come.

The space on the bed next to him was empty, but still warm, and before he could even think that Charles had ran away a sweet smell reached his nose.

Max only threw on a pair of boxers before making his way out to the kitchen, where Charles was indeed already cooking up some breakfast.

“Ah, good morning sleeping beauty” Charles teased, flipping a very tasty looking pancake on a skillet Max didn’t even knew he owned.

He was wearing boxers and an oversized t-shirt Max definitely knew to be his, and the sight was so incredibly domestic that it nearly overwhelmed him.

“Of course you had to be a morning person” Max grumbled, sitting on one of the stools around the counter and gratefully accepting the cup of coffee Charles placed in front of him.

Charles hummed in agreement “How could I not be after waking up next to you?”

The little smirk on the younger man’s lips let Max know that he was perfectly aware of just how corny that had been, but even after he rolled his eyes he couldn’t help the smile that stretched across his face.

God if Lando saw them right now they’d never hear the end of it.

The two men enjoyed their breakfast quietly, with Max only commenting on how it was borderline psychopathic just how much syrup Charles slathered on his pancakes and the latter shooting back that eating them without syrup proved he was the real psychopath.

After the meal was done and the dishes were washed, Max knew he couldn’t delay the inevitable any longer.

“So… I think we need to talk”

Charles simply nodded, looking like he knew that was coming, and took a seat on the stool besides him.

However, with those green eyes staring straight at his soul Max suddenly found himself at a loss for words. He knew what he wanted to say, but he just didn’t know how to say it.

“Before you say anything,” Charles spoke up, looking uncharacteristically shy “I just want you to know that I don’t regret last night. Not at all”

Max smiled, feeling a surge of confidence and reaching out to grab both his hands “Me neither”

Charles mirrored his grin, and the expression on his face made Max’s stomach do all types of somersaults.

“I’ll be honest, if someone had told me two months ago that we’d be having this conversation I would have thought they were on drugs”

Charles snorted “Same here, I was sure you hated me”

“Well I was sure you hated me” Max laughed “but you know what they say, there’s a fine line between love and hate”

It was only after the words were out of his mouth that Max realized how they sounded, and for the first time all morning he felt dread creeping up his throat. Oh God, Charles would probably get scared away now. What was he thinking? They’d only spent one night together, and Charles definitely did not have feelings for him –

“Mhm, that was probably what Harry Styles meant when he named his album”

Max really felt like his brain had short-circuited. _What?_

He could only stare incredulously at Charles for a few seconds, wondering if he was actually joking. But when he realized the Monegasque had been perfectly serious, he burst out laughing.

“Jesus _Christ_ Charles, you’re really something else” he wheezed after he’d composed himself a bit, and he was sure that the fondness he felt for Charles was showing very obviously on his face.

“Well Harry’s mind really is enormous” Charles defended himself, pouting at Max when the Dutch just kept laughing at him “Can we please get back on track?”

Max finally sobered up at that, and he rested a hand on top of Charles’s knee.

“Listen, I can’t tell you exactly what I think may come out of this. But I do know that I don’t want yesterday to just be a one-time thing”

The grin Charles gave him was blinding.

“Good, cause I don’t want it to be a one-time thing either”

The two sat there for a few seconds, just grinning madly at each other, and Max was suddenly reminded of how they’d done exactly the same thing on the first day they’d actually spoken to each other.

“We can take it slow if you want, no one else has to know until we get more used to this, to us”

Charles nodded pensively, before he got that cheeky look on his face Max had already grown accustomed to “I mean sure, but I think taking it slow flew out the window the moment you fucked me so hard my hips actually bruised”

That set off Max’s laughter again, and he couldn’t help but think that he could get used to spending all his mornings exactly like that.

“You really are something else Leclerc”

“Oh you love me”

And all Max could think about that was _yeah, I might_.

**Author's Note:**

> Can you believe I had planned for this to have 1k words at the most??? Anyways, if you enjoyed this not so little fic please don't hesitate to leave kudos and/or comments since they are very much appreciated and they really motivate me to keep writing. Also I'm planning to do a second part to this story of how every driver slowly found out about their relationship, so please let me know if that's something you'd like and stay tuned!
> 
> (Oh, and you can find me on tumblr at @mexstappen or @mexisco so we can scream about F1 and other things together)


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